The first planet orbiting Alcyone’s fifth star is a hot little world, drier than Earth on average, but with a lot of natural resources. The Republic of Texas colonized Odessa and turned it into a major manufacturing center, even before The War. Odessa has expanded to become one of the foremost American colonies, a strident voice for colonial rights in modern America, pushing to grant Statehood to more colonies. Odessa is not always popular in the Core Worlds.
The Republic of India is one of four powerful non-aligned nations. Bordering Persia in the west and China to the northeast, they began practicing neutrality after finishing their part of the Islamic Jihad. They have colonized a small number of systems, maintain a small navy, and keep to themselves as much as possible. They do not ignore the outside universe. They simply see no need to compete with us. They feel secure. It makes them interesting to deal with.
Ken was my wingman back when we first started. He was Free Japanese. His great grandparents made it out before the fall, and he grew up surfing the California coasts. We called him Buckaroo Banno. But you probably know this already if you read our diaries. He was a good man, a good friend, and I will always miss him. He will forever be known as Crane, as Cowboy Six, and to me as one of the many friends I owe my life to.
Orbiting the Alcyone system’s fifth star, Gateway was the first Western Alliance colony in the Pleiades Cluster. It was also the farthest colony from Terra we’d ever built. Designed to act as our embassy to the Peloran, we constructed it as a monument to Western civilization and sent our best and brightest on the four-year flight to the system. They built a colony we could all be proud of, a veritable Garden of Eden in the distant frontiers of space.
When The War ended, everyone came home. Soldiers, sailors, spacemen, and marines. After twenty years of War, all of our warriors came home. Old New York partied for an entire year, a celebration that never ended. Ticker tape parades, concerts, and more. As all things do though, the celebrations came to an end, and we all had to learn how to live again. That was the most difficult mission we ever committed to. Life after War.